Baseball: Rating Birmingham's top contenders for an AHSAA title (poll)

Hoover's Connor Short makes a throw to first in first round action against Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa earlier this month. The third-ranked team in Class 6A has as good a shot as any team in Birmingham to win a state baseball championship next month at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery. (Dennis Victory/preps@al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The third round of the Alabama High School baseball playoffs leaves Birmingham with six contenders for one of those prized blue maps.

The Metro area has three teams still alive in Class 6A, another two in 5A and then Shades Mountain Christian in 1A.

Each one of those six is a good contender for the state championship now. They are all one of just eight teams left in each AHSAA classification.

But who's got the best shot? Who's got the best team, the best draw and the most momentum. AL.com took a look at each of the brackets with a Birmingham team still in the mix.

The result was one opinion on which Metro teams are the most and least likely to win six more games across the next three weekends and claim the Birmingham region's first state baseball state championship since Hoover's 2008 team.

Those Bucs were barely above .500 when the playoffs rolled around, but serves to this day as a great example of a team that got hot at just the right time.

So who breaks the drought? It just so happens that the 2013 Bucs would be the first team in that conversation.

1. Hoover (6A) -- The Bucs are good. They're deep and they've got a favorable draw with only one potential road series in the way of a trip to Montgomery should they win this week.

There's really not much difference between Hoover and Pelham for the top spot in the Metro power rankings. The Bucs just have a few more bats to worry about in their hitting arsenal. The fact they've got two core leaders of the 2012 unbeaten Class 6A state football champions in Michael Powers and Connor Short provides another inch of separation for the top spot.

The pitching staff on this team is also as good as Rick Davis has ever had it across an admirable career with his hands on the wheel of the Hoover program.

2. Pelham (6A) -- There are three good reasons why the Panthers are dangerous coming out of the South. Those are UAB signee Thomas Lowery, Jack Pierce and flame-throwing sophomore Sam Finnerty.

That's the three arms the Panthers will line up against any team. That's not just for a best-of-3 series either. Finnerty has five saves this year so its a safe bet that any team that eliminates Pelham in any scenario would have to see each of those arms standing on the mound in their way.

Senior Fletcher Johnson makes things look easy shagging balls in center this spring and he's hit his way into the Metro Player of the Year conversation this month.

3. Pinson Valley (5A) -- The perception regarding the Indians will sound a lot like Pelham's spoils on the mound this spring. They've got a lot of arms.

So many arms that an Auburn signee might not be every Pinson fan's choice as the team's most effective pitcher this season. That's not because the young man has struggled either, but because of tremendous pitching depth that has risen to his level.

The Indians get Southside-Gadsden in a home series this weekend so that's another boost to their chances.

4. Homewood (5A) -- The No. 8 team in Class 5A also holds up very nicely in any comparison when it comes to the Metro pitching arms race. The reason they are just slotted fourth is because there are four other teams rated higher in the last Alabama Sports Writers Association's rankings still alive in the bracket.

Of course, rankings really do not matter in the playoffs. Neither do regular season records for that matter.

What might matter is that the Patriots have survived two elimination games already and that's not exactly the best track record for future success. The Patriots are also on the road this week and that increases the degree of difficultly across the next three weeks.

5. Hewitt-Trussville (6A) -- The Huskies have made significant strides in the mental toughness category this season. So they won't think anything of this ranking here.

They're on the road this week and actually face a team that's lost 23 games this year. That pretty much makes them the Metro team most likely to win this week in the quarterfinals.

Hewitt has a good club, but there's got to be some logic behind a ranking of the Metro's top contenders. If two Class 6A teams are right at the top then it doesn't make much sense to rate another 6A team as having the next-best shot to win it all.

6. Shades Mountain Christian (1A) -- The Eagles showed a lot of grit last Friday by sweeping Fayetteville in the second round. They eliminated a team that had beaten their boys in two out of three games earlier this month.

Shades Mountain also has played just 24 games this year and holds a 16-8 record so far in 2013. The Eagles also host the No. 2 team in Class 1A this week. That's the highest-rated team any Birmingham program will face prior to reaching the state finals in three weeks in Montgomery.

That's just one opinion on what the chances of Birmingham's top teams amount to this spring. Disagree? That's what opinions are for. Take this poll and let your own voice be heard.